23D rebuild-engine floods-gas runs out carb

[boblohse]

I'm in the process of rebuilding an early B-10,9horse 23D 0129.The piston was stamped .010 and very loose in cylinder .100 ring end gap smoked heavily during operation.Bore honed cylinder to .030 ring end gap on a.020 piston from briggs.Removed carbon from valves and lapped to seats.Replaced armature-was open circuit,new one has 5000 ohms.Repaired/replaced wiring and ignition switch back to original(it had a chevy coil and dodge ballast).New points condensor and spark plug,carb always was a little wet so it got a new needle to pressed in seat.Attempted to start engine,a couple of pops out exhaust then gas running out bottom of carb.Spark plug wet.This carb operated better before new kit installation so I put old parts back in-seemed to not leak as much gas on next attempt,still flooding.I tryed another carb that has a screwed in seat with same flooding effect.I knew nothing of this carb as it was in a pile of parts with unknown history.I hung the old coil arrangement back on with old carb as near to before condition as possible except turning mainjet screw to one turn out in an attempt to lean mixture.Spun engine over with assist from jumper cables for more RPM then turned fuel on,choked to start,more popping from exhaust,let go of starter and engine kept popping on its own.Fuel is dumping at carb ,reduced choke engine seems to idle then stalls-kept trying until block was getting warm,drained oil and refilled.Fired engine back up with armature,still dumps fuel on accel black smoke present like a little cloud out of muffler any time throttle is increased leaned out mainjet a little and let it idle for 15 minutes then 3/4 throttle to adjust mainjet put in gear and rode 50 feet.Seemed to run pretty good with minor governor surge.Shut engine down to readjust governor.Two hours later attempted to start-carb dumps fuel and no pops from exhaust.Cleaned spark plug tryed for a little longer-no go.Does any one have a recommendation?I was thinking maybe a new carb or better yet a tested good one.I need to do something different here.I have a little hope because engine actually operated properly with minor governor surge for a short time with new armature and repaired wiring-even the generator was charging according to amp meter.It was close to 45 degrees out side temp during this attempt today.

[boblohse]

After the long posting I think the problem is not carb related-I could hang carbs on that engine way past the point of being blue in the face and still have same problem.I actually believe this problem was created when carbon was removed from valves and lapping to seats,thus loosing clearance enough to where intake valve is still open when it should be closed.Combustion or pressure is being pushed into carb reverse flow blowing fuel out.I am going to check valve clearance tomorrow.

[UCD]

In most cases when you have gas running out the carb it is a float and or needle and seat problem. If you have fuel blowing back out the carb then you have an intake valve/timing issue.

[DMedal]

This is an engine w/out fuel pump, right? If you have a carb leaking gas just sitting there w/out the engine running, it is a float or needle/seat problem. If it only happens when you are running the engine then it isn't. Does it drip just waiting for you to attend to it or does this only happen when you are trying to run this poor beast? Sound like you're well on the way to a solution on your own. -Don

[ZippoVarga]

I'm with Maynard on this one. I think you may have a timing issue. Check the flywheel key and see if it appears to be off set or partially sheared. And your guess about valve clearance would yield a hard start if the valves are not seating properly or all the way. An end gap check through the crank case breather cover can quickly clear this potential problem up. Not enough gap will result in a valve staying open too long through the cam lobe duration and could potentially cause back drafting through the carb. Good luck and welcome to the club!!